brooks



(No Model.)

. E. J. BROOKS.

SEAL.

321,275. Patented June 30,- 18,85.. Zz/QJ. fing; 3.

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UNITED Sfrarns ,I arrasar Ormes,

EDWTARD J. BROOKS, OF EAST ORANGE, NEV JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO E. J. BROOKS & CO., OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SEAL.

SPECICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 321,275, dated June 30, 1885.

Application filed May 11, 1855.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, EDWARD J. BRooKs, a citizen of the United States, residing at East Orange, in the State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Seals, (A2,) of which the following is aspcciiication.

This invention relates to those seals which are composed in part of soft-metal seal-disks,

i@ commonly of lead, being secured or fastened, and at the same time distinctively marked, by pressing or stamping each seal-disk upon shackle ends extending therethrough, so as to permanently unite the latter, and thus prevent or insure the detection of the separation of two cardoor staples,or the like,united by the shackle. Tampering with such seals by stripping7 the shackle ends-that is to say, withdrawing them longitudinally from the seal-disk-has heretofore been guarded against by numerous patented devices. Another mode of effecting and hiding violations of such seals has not hitherto been successfully preventedthat is to say, releasing a shackleend by cutting through the superposed lead in line therewith by means of a sharp knife, bending the seal-disk so as to eX ose the shackle end,and then manipulating t e latter, and hiding the act by carefully replacing the O shackle end ,rebending the seal-disk so as to tightly close the cut, and neatly smoothing the lead so as to obliterate the mark of the cut. Nearly all lead7 seals can be so tampered with and their violation so concealed;

and it is almost impossible to detect the same when it is skillfully done. To prevent this mode of tampering with such seals is the object- Of my present invention, which,generally considered, consists in providing the softrlrc metal seal-disks with protectors that must themselves be cut to gain access to either shackle end, and that are adapted to resist such cutting, so as to render it impossible or diflicult, and thus to preclude making a cutin the seal-disk that can be so reclosed as to avoid detection, as hereinafter more fully set forth.

A sheet of drawings accompanies this speciiication as part thereof.

Figure 1 of these drawings is a partly sec- (No model.)

tionized elevation of the seal-disk and shackle of a cast-in lead-and-wireseal, straight,7

as they leave the factory, and Fig. 1x repre-v sents a magnified cross-section of the same. Fig. 2 is a partly sectionized elevation of a pressed seal formed by applying and stamping said seal-disk and shackle, and Fig. 2l' represents a magnified cross-section thereof. Fig. 3 is a partly sectionized elevation of the seal-disk and shackle of a cast-in lead-and-tin seal, straight, illustrating certain modications 5 Fig. 3Z represents a magnilied cross-section on the line e z, Fig. 3. Figs. et to 7, inclusive, are perspective views of seal-protectors illustrating additional modifications, and Fig. 8 is a partly sect-ionized perspective view of a detached seal-disk, provided with another variety of such protectors.

Like letters ofreferenee indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

An improved seal constructed according to the present invention, in either of the represented modications thereof, consists of a softmetal seal-disk, D or Db or D, preferably of lead, a flexible shackle, S or S", for example, anda protector or protectors, P, P", P, Pd, Pe, Pf, or Pg, inclosed within the seal-disk and adapted to prevent or resist cutting into the pressed seal-disk represented by D, Figs. 2 2y, to release either shackle end, as aforesaid.

The improved seal represented by Figs. 1 to 2y, inclusive, is, apart from. its protector, P, constructed according to inventions of my own, set forth in United States Patents No.161,475, dated March 30, 1875, No. 179,260, dated J une 27, 1876, and No. 192,735, dated July 3, 1877M that is to say, with detector-anchoring indentations in the cast-in shackle end s, and detector-anchoring enlargements on the threading end t of the shackle, and with a threading-hole, 7i, in the seal-disk, so arranged as to cross the shackle ends when the seal is threaded and cause them to interlock with each other when the seal is pressed. A properly-pressed seal combining these features is believed 'to be secure against stripping, as before set forth in my' specification forming part of United States Patent No. 278,866, dated June 5, 1883. To render the seal otherwise secure it is provided with said pro- IOO tector P, which is embedded in the sealdisk in the operation of casting the latter, having been dropped into the mold in proper position, followed by the shackle end s and a core-pin to form the threading-hole h, both of which pass through it. The particular protector P represented in said Figsl to 2-v,is preferably made of hardened taggers tin or other sheet-metal which will resist the cutting-edge of a knife sufficiently for the purposes of this invention. It is thus cheaply made in one part, with its parallel or substantially parallel disks united at one point, by an edge-guard, u, Figs. 1X, 2y, and provided with edge-guards c, at a diametrically opposite point, to preventpenetrating the seal-disk from either edge. The disks of the protector P are perforated, as indicated, to permit the lead to flow freely through them in the mold. A

single hole in each may suffice, as represented in Figs.3, 8", and the protector may be of any of various styles, as represented in Figs. 4 to 8, inclusive. It may also be made of cast-iron, glass, pottery, or the like, in appropriate shapes.

rPhe improved seal represented by Figs. 8,31, apart from its protector P", is constructed according to my invention set forth in United States Patent No. 246,068, dated August 23, 1881, with aeast-in shackle, Sb, of tin, (tin-plate,) and a threading-hole, h", in front of the cast-in perforated end of the shackle within the sealdisk Dl. The central perforations ofthe disks of said protector P" facilitate fastening this style of seal in the manner set forth in said Patent No. 246,068. Apart from these the protector Pb is or may be identical with said protector P. Particularly it has said edge-guards u c, Whichare essential in a protector for a leadand-tin seal of this style.

The protectors Pc Pd Pe Pf, Figs. 4 to 7, illustrate uniting their disks to facilitate handling` the protectors by connections 4'Lv at one end, so to speak, for seal-disks which do not have to be guarded at their edges; also providing such connections with threadingholes 7L to insure the proper location of the protector in the mold; also substituting slots or slits for more common holes in the protector-disks; also making the disks detached from each other and of different shapes. In using such detached protector-disks one is dropped into the mold, the shackle end and core-pin or pair of pins are then inserted, and then the other protector-disk is dropped in. The mold is then closed, filled, and emptied in customary manner.

Fig. 8 illustrates the application of a protector, Pg, to a seal-disk, D, detached from the shackle with which it is to be used, and provided With threadingholes hc hc to receive both shackle ends. The protector l?g for this style of seal-disks may be of either of the styles hereiubefore described, and should have the described edge-guards u c, Figs. lx, 2y, if -65 the threading-holes are parallel with each other, as in the example.

Having thus described my said improvement in seals, (A2,) I claim as my invention and desire to patent und'er this specification- 1. A soft-metal seal-disk provided with a protector of hard material embedded within the same, so as to be interposed between the shackle ends and the respective faces of the seal-disk, substantially as herein specified, to prevent or resist cutting into and opening such seal-disk, in the manner set forth.

2. A protector having a pair of disks parallel or substantially parallel with each other and provided with edge-guards, substantially as herein specified, in combination with a softinetal seal-disk, inclosing said protector, and a flexible shackle, the ends of which are united within said protector by said seal-disk, for the purpose set forth.

3. A protector having a pair of perforated disks parallel or substantially parallel With each other, in combination with a soft-metal seal-disk inclosing said protector, and aiiexible shackle, the ends of which are united Within said plrotector by said seal disk, substantially as erein specified. EDVARD J. BROOKS.

Witnesses:

HENRY L. C. VENK, L. F. HovEY. 

